a single step
by electrikitty
Summary: when catastrophe strikes and separates yona and jeaha from the others, they find themselves stranded in the mountains, among people who seem to know of the green dragon's past… / complete
1. Chapter 1

➶Yona➴

 _I_ _t's all such a… blur._

A spiderweb of cracks whorls out. Rocks splinter — shards, chunks, and boulders slam into the ground, and batter our shoulders, and cascade down the sides of the mountain valley.

Trees tremble like twigs in a breeze.

Shadows sweep over the ground. They race towards us and they're not shadows — they're chasms, gouging wounds in the earth with a wild hunger.

 _It feels…_

Everything's blurry. Gija's claws streak above my head, glistening in the sun. Rocks shatter into dust.

He's bleeding. Too many rocks, it's not safe, we should go.

The ground's tilting. I drop to my knees, and a rock hits my shoulder as I fall. This hurts. Someone, help. Help me!

 _It feels like…_

Yun skids past me, flung towards a gaping edge by invisible hands. 'Y-Yun!' I can't hear my voice. I reach out a hand. Sinha lunges forward and drags Yun back up, muscles straining. Ao hides under the fur of Sinha's mask, chattering in terror.

Someone drops to my side and crushes me against him. Rocks pour down like hail, shattering against my protector. …Zeno.

I feel him speak, my skin pressed so close to his, but I can't hear… It's all too faded.

 _It feels like it…_

Hands snatch me from Zeno's grip and and I'm dragged, pushed, a few steps, limbs flailing, sheltered under someone's robe. Gold and silver flashes — the swing of a glaive.

I stumble and fall, and arms reach out to catch me.

 _It feels like it should be…_

I land against someone's chest and shoulders, like a doll. Hak stands in front of me, spattered with blood, glaive chipped.

'Take her — _get her out!_ '

 _It feels like it should be louder._

Hak lashes out with the glaive, dust rains over us, and the ring of the metal shatters my fog.

'Hak!' I scream.

A pair of arms sweeps me up — deep blue and gold, a snarl of dusty green hair: Jeaha, and he tenses like a drawn bowstring. 'Hang on, kiddo…'

And we streak into the sky.

The wind is… immense. The raw noise floods my ears and rips at my clothes. I fling my arms around Jeaha's neck, and bury my face in his shoulder. I don't know which way is up, all I can see is fragments, through a veil of green and falling rocks. A sick feeling fills me, we're falling, heading down. A crack of shoe hitting rock and we soar up again, even higher. Step, leap, step, leap, in massive leaps, in a tangle of arms and legs and robes.

We're so high, but the mountains tower over us still, and rocks fall all around us still. I'm dizzy. I've been holding my breath. My heart's beating so hard that my ribs could break, and I can feel a heartbeat pounding under Jeaha's robe.

A glimpse of below. A speck of silver. A flash of white. Trees like moss.

So. High.

A sob rips from my throat.

'Don't let me go, Jeaha! _Don't let me GO!_ '

For one second, the world stops. Jeaha's earring grazes my cheek, and a ragged voice makes it through the storm.

' _Yona, I —'_

The rock hits us hard.

It crunches into Jeaha's back and the force almost jars my bones out of their sockets. He chokes out a raw cry.

We tumble, heads over heels. I've never held on so tightly in my life. His fingers dig into my skin, his arms crush me against his chest.

And we fall, birds with broken wings.

Into blackness.

 _To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

✧Jeaha✧

A breeze chills my skin. A hot, metallic taste trickles through my mouth. Blood.

I cough, and clear my throat. My body feels so heavy. And tired. The ground is hard, pressing against my shoulders, my head. Haven't opened my eyes. Just too tired. Can't fight it off.

Darkness floods me, and nearly drags me under, except for a faint, stinging prick.

I flex my fingers, and force my hand up to my jaw. A tiny puncture wound bleeds behind my ear. What… Then my fingers brush my earring. Oh. _What a pain._ I chuckle, hearing Yun's voice in my head.

Wait. Yun? I'm… forgetting something…

And the girl I didn't realise was lying on top of me lifts her head, and brings her eyes into focus.

What a wreck. Her face is all scratched up, her hair's snarled, her clothes are ripped. What a helpless nuisance. I smile.

'Welcome back to the land of the living, kiddo.'

Yona shakes her head, and blinks, looking around. 'What… happened?' She sits up, wincing, and her knees dig into my chest. She looks down.

'…Why am I… on top of you?'

And I finally I remember what happened. _Earthquake._

'It looks like I ended up breaking your fall. It wasn't intentional, but hey — happy to be of service.'

Yona's eyes widen, and tears spring from them. 'Oh, Jeaha,' she says, and looks up, away from me, trying to brush strands of hair from her face. 'I was terrified, I couldn't hear, or think what to do. I — the others.'

Her hand drops and it hits my shoulder.

'The others, they, I…'

She's shaking. Violently _._ I remember when I followed her along the Vanishing Cape — her legs were shaking so badly I thought she'd fall into the sea right before my eyes.

I nudge her. 'For a start, mind getting off me?'

She sort of slides off, and sits, legs akimbo, beside me. Her eyes are wide and her face is wet.

I gaze up at the sky. A dull purple-grey twilight. Dawn or dusk, I don't know. 'Come on, kid, don't go hysterical on me. All right?'

Yona doesn't speak. I'm starting to worry she's concussed, until her head snaps up. 'The bond of the Dragon Warriors. You can sense their presence, and signal them.' She shakes me by the shoulder. 'Jeaha, try to find them, we've got to find out if they're —'

'Kid.' I prise her fingers from my sleeve. 'I'm sort of out of commission.'

'What?' After glancing me up and down, her face whitens. 'You look awful.'

'Back at you.' I smirk, and rub a splash of mud off her cheek. 'We _did_ fall down the mountain.'

'Can you — you can move, right?'

I shrug. 'I don't know.'

She grabs me by the hands and tries to pull me up, sending hot pain down my spine. 'Ah, Yona—'

'Get up!' she yells. She digs her heels in, pulling me up inch by inch. 'We didn't survive only for you to _break your back, JEAHA!_ ' She stumbles, and hits the ground with a bump. I lean forward and slowly, painfully, get to my knees.

I give her my hand. 'Come on, Yona… What sort gentleman would I be to leave you in the lurch?'

She takes my hand; takes the offer of my open arms. Her hair brushes my neck. We're a mess. And this isn't the most most picturesque location for a romantic getaway.

She looks up, into my eyes, 'Jeaha, the Dragon Warriors, we —'

'I'm functioning, kiddo, I didn't say I was fine,' I grumble.

She lets me sit back down, but her hand stays on my arm. 'You can't sense them?'

'My head's splitting. Not right now I can't.'

Her disappointed little face is enough to break my heart.

I lean back on one hand. 'You don't need me to tell you that the others are okay, Yona. Have some faith.'

She looks away, wearily. 'I'm sorry. But that was such a nightmare — I still can't see how they could…' She bites her lip.

'Yet you've killed a crime lord with a single arrow. Climbed the Vanishing Cape. Survived a rebellion.' I smile. 'You united the Four Dragon Warriors.'

She smiles, faintly. 'You're making me out to be some kind of hero, Jeaha.'

'And you are, kiddo.' I'm tempted to lie back down and possibly pass out, but I can't leave Yona like that. And if I did lie down, I may never get up again, either. 'But I won't lie. That was rough. After all, it's not often something can knock the Green Dragon out of the air.'

Yona gazes at her hands, then looks around. 'Where are we?'

The twilight has deepened slightly. A couple of stars spatter the sky, behind a screen of dead, gnarled branches. Fog rolls over the earth, like a miniature sea of clouds, over a carpet of moss. Moss which no doubt which spared our bones heavy damage. It's cold, and damp.

'Seen one abandoned copse, you've seen them all. I don't know where we are.' I brace one hand against the ground and hold the other out to her. 'But we can't stay here. As much as I wish this were vice versa, could you give me a hand?'

Yona gets to her feet, and pulls me up. It would be comical at any other time. But not now. She props me up as I get my breath. My body aches, but my back in particular is killing me.

'Well, kiddo, you've got everything you need.' She glances at me questioningly. I wink. 'A handsome rogue at your side and the moon to light your way.'

She smiles. I let go of her arm. I take a step, and push down the accompanying dizziness. My dragon's leg feels incredibly weak. It's going to be a while before I can fly us anywhere.

'I, on the other hand, could use a pair of crutches,' I joke.

I glance around, wondering what direction we should start walking, only for red to flash in my vision as Yona runs into the dark forest and disappears in the fog.


	3. Chapter 3

➶Yona➴

It's dark, but I'm know I'm not alone. It's amazing what a difference that knowledge makes.

Fog wreathes around my feet, and occasionally rises in swirls with whispers of wind. For a forest full of trees, you'd think there would be more branches lying around… It's in times like this that I wish Ao was a little more like a dog and had a passion for hunting out sticks, instead of acorns and chestnuts. The poor little thing. I hope he's okay…

'Don't go too far,' I say to myself. 'Stay in a straight path, get a branch for Jeaha to use as a crutch, then turn around, and go back. Even you can't get lost that easily, right?'

The moon silhouettes an ensemble of branches, and one catches my eye — a forked branch… that unfortunately is still attached to a tree. I push up my sleeves, grab the ends, and start pulling it down. I twist it, yank it, shake it. The bark chafes my hands, and I grit my teeth. Where's Gija when you need him? _Under a pile of rubble, you selfish girl._

I bite back tears. 'Stupid… _tree_!' I yell, and finally wrench the thing off. It clatters against leaves and pebbles on the ground.

I wipe beads of sweat from my cheeks, and pick it up. Too many leaves and trailing ends… I remember that Hak would break up wood for our fires by snapping branches over his knee. …Branches thicker than my wrists.

'I can only try, right?' I drop to one knee, get the branch, place the unruly tangle of ends over my knee, and — _crack. Crack._ Splinters spit everywhere, and I rub my sore hands against my gown. No honey to soothe the splinters now. I pull the couple of offenders out with my teeth — none went in very far — and pick off any stray leaves and twigs.

I try to put the crutch under my arm to test it, but it's too tall. Good, it'll be the right height for him. I tuck the unwieldy thing under my arm, glance around, and pick my way back along what I hope is the way I came.

A muffled voice echoes through the fog. I freeze.

'…aaaahhh! Yonaaaa!'

I quickly trot down the path, through the fog, and blunder straight into Jeaha.

He grabs me by the shoulders and shakes the living daylights out of me. 'You little — Yona, what are you _doing_?!' His chest heaves. 'And this d_ed thing nearly gouged my eye out, what —'

I hold it up. 'A crutch. Like you asked.'

He steps back. 'I… I was _joking_. That you would, I didn't, you, I —' He runs a hand through his hair. 'You just ran into a _forest_ in the _dark_ on _your own_.'

'I wasn't on my own; you were with me.'

'I was back there unconscious on the ground because when you took off like a madwoman I chased after you and _passed out._ '

'W-Well, when you put it like that…' I hesitate. 'You, well… you were with me in spirit.' Jeaha stares at me. 'I was fine. It's just a forest, Jeaha! I didn't go very far. I knew — well, I _thought_ you wouldn't follow me. But even though you weren't with me, I felt safe, knowing you were waiting for me back there. Don't be mad, Jeaha.' I hold out the crutch. 'I was just trying to help you.'

'I hate to think what would happen if you had to fend for yourself,' Jeaha says, tracing a finger over a few of the splinter marks on my hands.

I draw breath and purse my lips. 'I can fend for myself just fine, thanks!'

He chuckles. And he takes the crutch. 'Pretty _and_ practical — is there no end to your charms?' He presses the crutch into the crook of his right arm. 'Just do us both a favour, kid. Next time we're at a village, buy some commonsense.'

I sigh. 'You're probably right.'

Jeaha takes a few steps. Swing, step, swing, step, keeping weight off his dragon's leg. He lets out a deep sigh. 'That feels good. You're a miracle-worker, kiddo,' he says, and messes up my hair.

'Jeaha!' I protest, but he's already out of reach, expertly pivoting back to face me with a lazy smile. He's as confusing as usual. I smile back.

His eyes widen, then his head jerks up and he looks over his shoulder. A faint cracking of branches… footsteps.

'Hold this.' Jeaha tosses the crutch in my direction, and snaps apart the clasps of his robe. Metal glints in the depths of the fabric. '…And stay behind me.'

The fingers of my free hand curl together. I don't have my bow. I'm helpless. I've only just started learning swordsmanship. I reach past Jeaha and snatch a _kunai_ from the belts of blades under his robe. It's something — if anyone tries to get behind Jeaha, I'll gouge their eyes out.

We both tense, as people walk out of the shadows. A couple of men, blurred by darkness. No weapons. I straighten, then remember that there are likely weapons that we can't see.

'Ah, fortune's finally smiling on us, eh, my girl?' Jeaha says, glancing back at me before nodding at the newcomers.

He never calls me that. He mustn't want us to use our real names. I palm the shuriken and try to force the fear and adrenaline from my face.

One of the men looks us over, expressionless. 'Are you all right? You look quite… battered.'

'I'm afraid we had a rough night. We were descending this side of the mountain valley — travelling to visit family in Shintai — when the earthquake struck.' As Jeaha gestures, he winces, as though the movements cause him pain. 'We were sent flying and the next thing we knew we woke up down here, much worse for wear.'

I step forward, still partly in Jeaha's shadow. 'We'd just started looking for a way out of here. There aren't any villages nearby, are there?' I widen my eyes. _Come on. Just a sweet girl and her companion, too weak to do you any harm._ _Come on._

One of the men grunts. 'We come from a village not far from here. We came to check the extent of the damage from the earthquake. Please follow us and we'll take you to our village.'

'You're very kind,' I say. I give Jeaha his crutch back and he and I fall into step behind them at a distance. 'We were worried we'd be stranded here, injured, and lost.'

One of the men nods, without looking back. I draw my cloak tighter, against the cold. The hood slides from my head and I quickly reach to pull it back up. The wind drops.

'…Think he's the Green Dragon?' one of the men whispers.

I freeze. Jeaha stumbles, then hits me on the back, forcing me to keep moving.

The man receives a sharp word from one of his comrades.

I risk a glance at Jeaha. His face is as cold as _ice_.

Jeaha never worries. He always has a laugh and a comeback ready. Soaring through the sky, free, with no worries or cares. But I know that his life hasn't always been so carefree. It took over a week and all my effort to win him to my cause, and even now he's still carving his own path, refusing to let the ancient bonds of the Dragon Warriors dictate his life or tie him down.

Something had to have caused him to be that way — independent and adamant about his freedom. I don't know what; I know so little of all the Dragons' pasts. I know nothing of Jeaha's life before he joined Captain Gi-Gan's crew.

Not everyone adores and worships the the warriors of legend. If these men know of the Green Dragon…

…Then we're casting lots in a dangerous game.

 _To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

✧Jeaha✧

A tangle of curses and panic roars through my head, before leaving me limping along the too-silent trail, with Yona at my side, following strangers who know who I am.

Their silhouettes are blurred. They could be anyone, from any village. I raise my eyes to the stars. I don't know where we are. Maybe we fell further from the mountains than I thought.

Closer to the Green Dragon Village than I thought.

Something brushes my sleeve and I glance down. Yona is keeping close, with a blade of some sort in her clenched fist, held behind her back. She's looking at me, violet eyes wide. There's nothing I can say, really. I manage a wink and a smile, and look away before her face tells me I'm not fooling anyone.

The Green Dragon Village. Ge-Yu. I left it years ago, left it far behind, in time and in distance. But even if we were blown off course as we fell down the mountain, we still can't be _that_ near it.

I sigh. Rumours and truth alike get out eventually. People talk. I guess that's the price of being a handsome rogue — someone's always going to be after you.

It's too quiet, and taking step after limp after step isn't enough of a distraction.

The memories start coming back.

The smell of wet metal. The dull pain of shackles, edged in blood. Chained, in a cold grey room. Stories of a king, spoken by a dying man with a ragged voice and a dragon's leg, same as mine. Stories of a master that I was bound to, by my very blood. Bound in chains until he deigned to show up and drag me off to serve him.

The feelings are just as real, even though so much time has passed. Was it really this bad? I'd forgotten… Throbbing pain in my leg, burning pain in my blood. Pain that I was too young to know how to deal with.

Until I escaped. Nights of running, days of hiding. Flying until I had to walk, walking until I had to limp, until I had to stop, until I could fly a little further. Until I reached Awa, and fell from the sky onto the deck of a pirate ship. From my old life into a new one.

My boot catches on a rock. I stumble. Yona grabs hold of my arm and I quickly recover. A cold forest. A battered girl at my side. Strangers ahead. The memories fade, but the feelings don't.

I'd forgotten how bad it had been. I can't — I _don't_ want to go back to how things were. Not now. I set my jaw, and bare my teeth in a wicked smirk. _You think I'm the Green Dragon? Then come at me, and we'll see how fast I can flay your hides._

The trees are starting to thin. I grimace. I spent too long on nostalgia and now we're practically at the village. I need to think. I know we can't be that close to the Green Dragon village but these people still know about me somehow. Rumours? Stories? Most people don't believe in the legends — to them I was just a passing rogue with beautiful looks and excellent taste in girls. Maybe my village put a price on my head?

I sigh, and it turns into a low growl. What a mess. Speculating won't get us anywhere. Some smarts and well-placed blades might.

I glance at Yona and she looks up at me. I want to talk to her, want to tell her what's going on, want to hear her stubborn, simple answers and intoxicating voice. But whispered conversations and plans will only prove we have something to hide.

Better to play the part of two silent, bone-weary travellers. Not that method acting requires much skill.

The soil blends with streaks of rock, and on our left, cliff faces sweep up and around into a rugged curve that blends with rising green-tinted mountains, and shields a small, sprawling town, below.

Town. Not village. More people to deal with. Fabulous. I've heard of this place. We're not as close to my village as I thought. This is Ta-shai, a town grown wealthy on its mines and timber.

I squeeze Yona's hand, and we descend into the basin of the town.

Yona pulls her hood over her flaming hair. Torches burn in the dirt streets, and a few townspeople are still out. We get curious, sharp looks. My muscles tense, and Yona draws closer to me. If I didn't know that these people have heard of the Green Dragon, I'd worry that we've stumbled into another crime ring of some sort.

We're led still further through the Village. My dragon's leg starts throbbing again, from either unease or too much walking. Probably both. The cliffs curve inwards overhead, and gradually the sky disappears from view. A bad omen? I don't need an oracle to tell me that.

One of the larger buildings of the town rises out of the shadowed recesses of the cliffs. Maybe an official's house. Or —

Yes, an official's house. With guards. Yona and I exchange glances, before we're led up the steps and past wooden double doors that slam shut behind us. Tired flames flicker in small lanterns hidden in alcoves.

One of the men who escorted us says, 'Please wait here,' then the whole crew up and disappears down a passageway.

'Hospitable?' I say. I toss my crutch aside and take a seat on a table, seeing as there's no chairs on offer.

Yona drifts around the room, peering down passageways, and testing the bars and latches on the doors. She glances at me, opens her mouth, glances around the room, and closes her mouth again. I nod. Who knows who's listening in the shadows? Not to mention the guards outside.

She sits behind me and leans against my back, her shoulder blades pressing against mine. 'You're probably normally good at kicking down doors, I imagine,' she whispers.

I grimace, and we both gaze at the wooden barrier blocking our exit. But even if we busted our way out, it doesn't mean that we can fight the guards outside. 'Trust me, kiddo, it's all I can think about.'

A slow creak, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. We both get to our feet, and one of the men from before enters, shadows blurring his figure. 'We imagine you two are tired. We have rooms for you, if you would come this way.'

I'd expected a mild interrogation at best and a street fight at worst. 'You're very… kind.' Wouldn't the town official at least want to have a look at us, especially if his men think I'm the Green Dragon?

Yona and I follow him through dark corridors. This whole situation is screaming 'trap,' but what can I do? I'm done for but, if I can get Yona to pretend to be a clueless little girl, maybe she can escape.

The corridor ends in a doorway. 'We have a room here for the little lady,' the man says, stepping out of the way. That's right, split us up. I grit my teeth. Yona's age isn't working in our favour this once — she doesn't look old enough for us to be married and share a room.

The room is lantern-lit, with a futon on the floor. No danger here. She's not the problem. It's me that's the problem.

Yona steps through the doorway, and turns around. I step forward, and feel something shift under my feet. A trap door. Of course it's a trap door. Of course you used her to get me.

The moment Yona slides that door shut, I'm gone.

She looks up at me. 'I…' She can't even use my name. I want her to. To scream it. I want these jerks to know who I am and come at me, and leave her out of it.

I raise a hand and stroke her cheek. A tear splashes onto my finger, in spite of herself.

I say, 'I guess I'll see you…' My hand jerks. Her eyebrows lift. Even though she's not old enough to be my wife…

…She's old enough to be my girlfriend.

I lean forward and kiss her. It's not like I have an upstanding reputation to maintain.

'Mmph!' she squeaks. I was aiming for her cheek, but she jolts and my lips brush the corner of her mouth. A hot, sweet chill shoots through me. I want to enjoy it, but I don't have time.

'Listen,' I whisper, rushing the words between each kiss. 'Don't tell them who you are.' A kiss on her cheek. 'Play dumb.' Kiss. 'Forget about me.' Kiss.

'J—'

I silence her with another kiss. 'Don't argue.' My voice is growing ragged. 'When things go down, run for the hills.' Kiss. 'There's things going on you don't know about.' Kiss. I linger. She's blushing. 'Promise me. Kiddo.'

With a final hard kiss, I let her go, and gently push her into the room. Her stunned face is the last thing I see before a maid slides the door shut, and I fall through the floor into darkness.

 _To be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

➶Yona➴

The door slams shut. A fire rises from my cheeks and my fingers feel like frost on my face.

Through my daze, I notice the maid leave the room. In the sliver of space that the closing door yields, I see that Jeaha's already gone.

Jeaha. I crash onto the futon and fling the pillow across the room.

He _kissed me_. Even the thought makes me splutter with shock. I don't even know what to think. I draw breath, to scream, hiss, laugh, or cry — I don't know which.

'He's such a _pervert_ …' I grumble, crinkling the edge of the sheet. Of course — he's had lots of practice.

I drop my head and throw a tantrum, muffled by the futon. 'But I'm the princess and he's practically ten years older than me and it was just _WEIRD_!'

I roll over onto my back and glare at the ceiling. It would have been more satisfying to scream at the top of my lungs, and not muffled by a eiderdown.

I sigh. …It's not like he kissed my actual mouth. I choke. _Gah!_ I rub at my cheek with my hand. 'You're so mean, Jeaha!' I hiss.

I hold onto my outrage, but eventually it starts to fade. …Jeaha. My hand falls to my side. I wonder where he is now. I draw my knees up to my chest. I try to remember — it happened so quick.

He — Ugh. I mean, of all guises, why kissing — couldn't he at least have _pretended_ to kiss me?! I sigh, again. Forget the kissing, Yona. At least _try_ to.

He said, _Don't tell them who you are._ Tell them I'm the Princess? No way. _Play dumb_. I'll try. _Forget about me._ Why would he say that? We're going to be fine, we'll escape, won't we?

I gaze across the room, and try to imagine Jeaha sitting in the corner, one knee up, flicking his hair out of his eyes, and making some inappropriate comment with a charming smile.

I smile back. Frustrating as he may be… Forget? 'No way, Jeaha.'

 _Don't argue_. Of course I'm going to argue, Jeaha, I don't understand what's going on. _When things go down, run for the hills_. Go down? I guessed that these people's knowing of the Green Dragon was bad, but… _There's things going on you don't know about._ I gathered that. But to what extent?

I'm left with more questions than answers. I look out the window. 'I could use your advice right now, Ik-su.'

A knock at my door, and my head jerks around. 'E-Enter.'

It's the same maid, carrying a tray of tea, and food. 'Thank you,' I say. The scent of tea flowers and dumplings wafts through the air.

The maid places the tray beside my futon and I realise the pillow is still on the other side of the room. Oops…

I take the tea. The scent is exquisite. I know this one… 'This is jasmine and ginkgo, isn't it?' I ask, and smile into the cup. 'It's Je— my friend's favourite. He'll be enjoying this.'

I glance up, and my gaze stops. The maid quickly bows and leaves, but her uneasy expression is still burned onto my eyes as an afterglow.

'She looked… hmm,' I muse. Not guilty, but not happy, either. All I did was compliment her on the tea, but I did mention Jeaha. My imagination runs away with me, into old drama performances, tales of poisoned lords and broken-hearted maidens. I set the cup down in horror. 'Maybe they poisoned his tea?'

I slap myself and shake my head to clear out this nonsense. Besides, if they had, the maid would have looked more, stricken, surely, if I had hit on the truth?

…Maybe… They're trying to capture him? I flinch. He's always been a rogue… getting into scrapes…Could I be right?

My eyes are starting to droop. _Droopy-eyes._ Even memories of Hak and Jeaha's usual banter don't make me laugh. I drown a dumpling in sauce, and force myself to eat it even though I'm not hungry. Frankly, I feel sick. I don't know what's going on, and the more time I have here, alone, to think about it, the more I get the sense that things are worse than I know, that something is very wrong.

What can I do? Nothing, really. I don't know how to strategise. That's Hak's job, not mine. I can't slash my way out of here. I can't see a miraculous solution. I can't kick down the doors holding me here. I can't run through a hail of arrows to freedom. I can't blast my way out. I don't even have my bow, and what good am I without it?

'I'm useless,' I say, tears threatening to spill. I keep saying that I want to protect and help the others, but when one of them actually needs me, I'm _worse_ than useless.

I push the tray aside. I lift the covers of the futon and slide in. The hot-and-cold lights of lantern and moon are swallowed by creamy darkness. If all I can do is try to sleep, so I'm ready to take on whatever tomorrow brings our way, then that's what I'll do.

Jeaha… Are you being held somewhere? Locked up? Are you safe?

I shut my eyes, and try to stop my thoughts.

Crickets buzz outside.

'He still kissed me,' I sulk.

But I can't help it — I laugh.

You're so… confusing, Jeaha. And as soon as dawn comes, I'm going to find you.

 _To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

✧Jeaha✧

I wake up in chains. The air is stale, and thick with the scent of metal. The feeling comes back into my limbs. The fall down the trap hole has left me with a fresh set of bruises. My coat is gone, and the air is cold on my bare skin. Hands… cuffed. Legs… weighed down with manacles and iron. Strapped to a bench with what feels like five hundred _li_ of chains.

I hear footsteps behind me, and I glance to the side. 'Haven't you people got any respect for beauty?' I rattle one of the manacles. 'I'll be lucky if I'm not scarred for life.'

Heavy footfalls approach. I sigh and stare at the ceiling. What a fuss. The town official wouldn't want to face me like a man, would he?

Yes, it's him. Middle-aged. Leaning on a cane. Worry lines marking an already unpleasant face.

'Is there a problem, sir?' I say. 'Because this feels like overkill.'

He looks me over. 'We apologise for the inconvenience—'

'What inconvenience?' I ask, glancing around. 'Ah, perhaps you mean the trapdoor, and the fact that I'm chained with enough iron to sink a ship. No, it's not an inconvenience at all.' The official watches me, warily. I drop my voice to a snarl. 'It's a _d_ed_ inconvenience, and if I wasn't locked to this table I'd kill you with your own cane.'

The official's heavy eyebrows lower, hiding his eyes. 'I take it you know why we… detained you.'

I flex my dragon's leg. I know I'm in too bad a condition to break the irons, but the metal still creaks alarmingly. The official leaps back. Blades ring _._ There's more men in the room than I realised.

I bare my teeth in a lazy smirk. There's no point in hiding my cards, they've already seen them. 'You bet I do. And I take back the "sir."'

The official walks down the length of the table. His cane clicks dully against the ground. 'Many years ago, Ge-yu made a request to nearby villages and towns: Te-yai, I-teiye, Te-Shai, and others. A slave —'

My body jerks and the chains clink. The official glances at me. 'A slave, a young boy, escaped from their village to avoid his master, who apparently was coming to claim him.'

I clench my jaw. 'Slavery is immoral. No man has any right to hold power over another.'

'Be that as it may, it's not illegal. And apparently this bond was a blood oath, made between complying families,' the official says, and pauses, to see my reaction.

What an understatement. I feel sick. There's not enough air in the room.

'There were also rumours that this boy had mythical powers.' My gut cinches. He's playing with me. Does he know, know the truth? My clothes are probably ripped enough for him to see what's hidden underneath. I try to keep my face blank.

'Ge-yu put out a ransom: twenty-thousand _rin_ if somebody caught him alive.'

A fortune. What town or village wouldn't be interested? It's hard to blame them; they're probably good people — except that I'm the one they're after. I'm the one in chains.

I wish I could stand, or at least sit. It feels like I'm arguing with the walls or the ceiling, and making just as much headway.

'This isn't your business,' I say. 'Ge-yu shouldn't be plastering its affairs across the kingdom. If they can't even face me and attempt to reconcile, I'm even less inclined to relook at the situation.'

The official coughs. Or laughs. His face is too expressionless to tell. 'Brave words, boy. You do realise you've got no choice?'

My heart is beating too fast. I can't concentrate.

'Rumours about you have spread around the kingdom. A rogue, of sorts? You couldn't be overcome with brute force, so the other villages and towns worked out ways to trap you.' He stares at me for a moment. 'We weren't counting on you having a companion, however.'

My chest tightens. Yona.

'It hardly seems wise, taking a young girl along with you. Dangerous.'

'If you touch her I will rip your throat out, cliche as it may be.'

The offical shakes his head. He knows he just hit on a nerve. I can't focus, I can't hide everything.

'We're not ruthless,' he says. 'But it's a shame she's caught up in this.'

I flex my leg; clench my fists in their manacles. I know I can't get free, but some insane, stupid, part of me hopes I'm not as tired, not as weak as I know I am. Nothing gives way, the irons stay unbroken.

The official walks away. 'I don't know what happened to you before you came here —'

'You _baited_ us in and trapped us,' I spit.

' — But I know you're too weak to get free. Besides, how can you kick your way out of here if you can't even stand?'

He knows. My temper's going; my vision swims with black and red stars.

His voice is starting to echo. 'A convoy that will transport you to Ge-Yu will leave at dawn.'

No. No no no.

'Be grateful that you're already weak. Or we'd have to torture you and wear you down.'

That tears it. 'You b—'

'Watch your tongue. If you want me to treat the girl decently and not toss her out on the street, show some respect.'

'Let me clear something up. If you hurt her, I will get free, and I will come back, and I will find you, and I will personally make your life living hell and then I'll send you there.' A deathly silence. I let the sarcasm drip. 'Sir.'

A door slams above my head.

I hear the soldiers in the room quietly edge away.

'Don't worry,' I say, and there's a clatter of metal and footsteps. 'I'm not in the mood for attempting an escape and bloodying my wrists, so take it easy.'

They're not convinced. I close my eyes, and try to ignore the faint sounds in the dead quiet: hoarse breathing, the clink of metal, the drip of water. Between the chains, manacles, and a dozen sets of eyes, sleep isn't going to come quickly.

I close my eyes.

Yona…

 _Jeaha, teach me swordsmanship!_

 _You're so mean, Jeaha…_

 _I feel safe when I'm with you!_

Each word is a twinge in my heart. They may not hurt her, but if they take me away, she'll be left here. Alone. Without Hak, or me, or any of the others.

Hak… is this what it's like? Having to be invincible, having to be wherever she is and think of everything? And having to not let your feelings get in the way?

I didn't think the pressure would be this intense.

I got my wish — a journey just for the two of us — but instead of a romantic day trip it turned out to be a nightmare. It's like _we're_ the ones going through hell.

And I don't know if we'll make it back again.

I open my eyes, and see the ceiling instead of stars. I always fought against my destiny, rebelled against the dragon's blood in my veins, but…

 _Dragons_? I guess some reverence might get me somewhere _…Holy, sacred dragons — frankly, I can't care less about the heavens, but if Yona really has a destiny to fulfil… She's in danger and I'm the only one who can help her, so… give me your aid?_

No flashing lights, shattering metal, or burning blood in my veins. I wish I could kick something, move at all, even.

I don't know what more the Dragons want from me. I close my eyes.

I don't want to go into tomorrow hoping for a last-minute miracle.

I just want to keep Yona safe.

The chafing of the chains, the smell of wet metal, a throbbing pain in my leg… I'm back in Ge-yu again, chained under a open sky, and Yona runs past, trying to reach the dawn, but she burns up into a wisp of smoke as the stars fall and the clouds roll in.

 _To be continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

➶Yona➴

 _Uhnnn… Five more minutes._

The ringing of wind chimes. The clatter of sandals on wood. The creak of moving carts. Bird song.

Sleep fades away, and my eyes flutter open. 'Wh — why am I inside?'

Then I remember: I'm not roaming the kingdom with my friends, I'm in a strange village with Jeaha. I hurriedly fling the covers back and run to the window, tripping over the pillow as I go. The sun's already up. I gasp, and run back to pull my slippers on. I wanted to be up by dawn, but what was I expecting, with no one to wake me? It's a miracle I didn't wake up later with how worn out I was.

I run my fingers through my hair, and realise what a mess I am. My hair is snarled, and my dress is ripped from the fall down the mountains and from trekking through the woods. I dust myself off and reach for the sliding door, but glance back. The tray from last night is still in the room. On second thought, I wolf down the rest of the dumplings and run out the door with my mouth still full. Who knows what's going to happen today — I may not even have time for breakfast.

I slip down the corridors. Maids and servants are already about their work. I find the central room, with the building's entrance. It looks less forbidding in the daylight. I stop the first maid I see. 'Excuse me, do you know where my friend is? I think he's somewhere in this building?'

She looks confused. 'I thought you were —'

'Your friend is still asleep.' We both turn. An older man walks across the room to us, leaning heavily on his cane. 'I had our town's physician come to check him over. He said to leave him to sleep as long as possible.'

The man's eyes flicker. Something doesn't sound right. He could be lying. Or Jeaha really could be exhausted. But it sounds too… convenient.

I try to smile and look like a cute, clueless girl, as though I'm not trying to work out who might be about to stab me in the back. 'Thank you for doing that. Are you the overseer of this town?' I ask, holding out my hand.

He shakes it. His hands are smaller than I expected. 'Yes, I am.'

'Thank you for taking us in. Your men finding us in the woods was a miracle.'

He smiles. His teeth look run-down. 'You're quite welcome. I'm afraid I have work to do, but feel free to look around the village, and… amuse yourself.'

'Thank you,' I say.

He walks off. I hesitate, looking between the maze of passageways, and the fresh brightness framed by the open door. I could try to find Jeaha, but what if he's not even in this building? And I don't really know what's going on — if I start snooping, I'm going to get myself into trouble eventually.

I head for the light. I step through the door, and pause on the verandah. It's a beautiful day, and the fresh air feels good. Dirt streets wind around the official's house, and disappear among clusters of buildings. I walk around the side of the house, and the ground quickly blends into a forest that blurs with mountains, blurred and streaked with waterfalls and streams. Beautiful. I step towards the edge of the verandah, thinking I might be able to find a quiet stream to clean up in, when I see the men down around the side of the house.

One has Jeaha's coat. The other has his arms full of blades.

I freeze, and back up, into the shadows. I listen.

'…Could give him the coat back.'

'No, there's probably even more concealed blades. He's a real rogue. Besides, you want to give him weapons to fight us with?'

'That's not what I meant!'

My legs are shaking. _Fight them with…_ They took his things… this looks bad.

The men walk my way. '…Throw them out?'

'You want to put that much good steel to waste?'

I panic. Jeaha's things. His _weapons_. I've _got_ to get them back.

I don't think, I just go. I lean over the edge of the balcony. 'Oh, thank you so much!' The men jump, and turn to me. I hop down from the verandah. 'You even polished them — J- he was saying they were going to rust from the damp. You even washed his coat! I only wish I'd caught you earlier — my own things are a mess!' I reel off the lies as fast as I can, like shooting off arrows to overwhelm an opponent. Thank goodness Jeaha takes such good care of his things; it means I can get away with my outrageous lies.

'Is she the girl?' one of the men asks the other.

Before he can answer, I take the coat and tumble the blades into the open folds of the fabric. 'I'll take these for you—'

'Hey, wait a minute!' one of them protests.

I tip my head to one side, and put on a bewildered expression. 'Hmm?'

They exchange glances. My heart hammers. This is it, they're either going to let me get away with this or they'll take the things back off me.

'Nothing. You're welcome,' they mutter, and walk off.

I sag against the wall. The blades twinkle like stars against a blue fabric sky. But my heart's sinking. They wouldn't have let me get away with that…

…Unless they thought I couldn't get the things to Jeaha.

I walk into the woods, and carefully slide the blades back into their pockets and sheaths inside Jeaha's coat. I freshen up in a small stream, and rub some of the worst stains out of my dress. As I work, I feel uneasy, as though someone's watching me.

I bundle up Jeaha's coat and carry it in my arms as I walk back through the trees. I was right — a maid had followed me. She hesitates, but something else already has my attention.

It's getting loud out there. I quickly walk past and the maid panics, chasing me and saying, 'Wait!'

'What's going on?' I yell over my shoulder.

'Please, miss, you mustn't—'

Something's going on, something people don't want me to know about.

I race out of the forest. In the short time I was gone, something's changed. Whispers on the wind, sparks of excitement. A lot of people are on the streets. I can hardly get anywhere. I try to make my way back to the steps of the official's house, but even though it's so close, I can't get through. A wooden cart has been drawn up to the house's entrance.

A huge wooden cage is in the cart's tray. Chains are bolted to the bars. My body jerks. Something's wrong, this is bad.

Soldiers are flanking the cart, and more carts and wagons are forming a convoy. 'What's going on!?' I have to shout, but no one can hear me over the noise, no one's interested. I'm panicking, I can't breathe.

The wooden double doors of the official's house swing open, and the crowd explodes into a roar. Soldiers walk down the steps, flanking someone.

He's in chains. His coat gone, his black vest ripped, and his hair snarled. He's got a hard glint in his eyes.

' _Jeaha_!' I scream.

He can't hear me. The soldiers force him towards the cage; I see him resist, dig his heels in. I push at the people in front of me. 'Let me _through_!' The look on his face is cutting my heart. A sob rips out of me. 'Let him go! _What'd he ever do to you!?_ '

I snatch a blade from Jeaha's coat; dump the bundle on the ground, and slash forward. Blood drops spatter, people tumble aside. I burst into the open and the soldiers whirl around. Jeaha turns. His eyes widen.

I raise the blade. My blood is burning, and no rainstorm is going to put it out.

'STEP AWAY FROM HIM!'

Just a flicker, just a hint of a smile flashes across Jeaha's face.

I don't need someone to tell me that a fire's burning in my eyes.

I can feel the flames blazing in my soul.

 _To be continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

✧Jeaha✧

I'm tempted to kiss her again. Strongly tempted.

She looks savage. Hak never mentioned how fun being her companion must be — the fire in her eyes is enough to make your heart skip a beat. She looks good with a blade.

Then reality kicks in. It's me and her against the whole town. And I'm in chains, so really… it's just her.

How'd she get her hands on my knives, come to think of it?

The square is dead silent, except for a strong breeze. Every person is frozen in place. One or two people are sprawled across the ground. They must have been in her way.

The town official emerges from his lair, and descends the steps. He deigns to give me a glance, but his attention is on Yona. A tremor runs down my spine.

'What is the meaning of this, my dear?' The words sound forced. He looks bored, slightly irritated.

Yona stiffens. She slashes the air, and her blade sweeps down to her side. 'You dare ask _me_ that!?' she screams.

Part of me feels on top of the world, watching her yelling her lungs out, and the other part of me feels terrified. _No, kiddo_. _Careful!_

I shake my head slightly, drawing attention from my guards, but Yona's off in a fiery world of justice and doesn't even notice.

Yona walks right up to the official and stands face to face with him. 'You took us in and now you're _imprisoning him?!_ What did we ever do to you?'

The official flinches, and forces her back a step with his cane. 'Your friend is a wanted runaway. Choose your companions more wisely in the future, girl, and you won't have to get caught up in these situations.'

I can see her brain racing. She doesn't know enough, I haven't told her enough.

'What are you going to do with him?' she demands.

'We're returning him to his village,' the official says, and turns away, as though that's the end of the matter. Yona looks stunned. The door of the cage swings open. No. Not more chains. I resist, dig my heels in as the soldiers try to force me into the cart. Not a cage. I can't.

' _STOP!_ ' Yona yells, summoning up all her authority as a pampered, spoilt, domineering princess.

The official jumps, and a few of the soldiers start, which would make me laugh if I didn't feel sick to my stomach.

'Why did he run away?' Her voice is dangerously low.

The official looks pretty ticked, but his eyes are glazed. I can see one of his fingers twitching. What is it about this helpless, fragile girl, that can shake you to your very core? 'He's a slave. He's still bound to his master.'

Several expressions flash across Yona's face. She takes a deep breath. 'So you're saying that he has to return because his master hasn't yet come to claim him.'

The offical's eyes narrow. He must be wondering where she's getting this other information. '…Yes.'

'Then I command you to release him. At once.' Her hair looks like fire under the blue sky. I inhale sharply. I know what she's going to say. _No —_

Her eyes narrow. 'Because I am his master.'

The offical blinks. Then laughs. A dry sandpapery laugh, that the soldiers copy and everybody else echoes, until it ripples through the town.

Yona bites her lip. Her eyes look worried.

'You can't just claim your friend for yourself,' the official says. He shakes his head, smiling. My shoulders tense, and I wish I could stroll over and punch him. 'He legally belongs to someone else. You can't just replace that claim with your own.'

'I'm afraid you didn't understand me.' Yona stands, shoulders back, and winds a lock of her red hair around one finger. She draws breath. 'I am his master because I am — '

'Rina!' I yell. She stops, but it still takes her a moment to realise I'm talking to her. Rina is the name she uses when she can't use her real one. She stares at me, then points to her hair. I know, I scream in my head. You're the Princess and the master of the Four Dragons and the descendant of the Crimson Dragon King, but if you tell them that they'll never let you _go_!

Her eyes plead with me. She probably hasn't thought of all the ramifications — she probably doesn't even _care_. All she knows is that she's my master, and that she's already found and claimed me. She thinks that if she tells them that, they'll just hand me over to her. But I stare back at her, begging, asking, reaching out with all of my soul to hers, for her not to do this. She opens her mouth, and I shake my head. _Yona!_

She looks down. And says nothing. I feel like I'm going to collapse.

The official looks mildly interested, but he can't be bothered with a spoiled little girl, it seems. He raises a hand. And the silent square comes roaring back to life.

The soldiers grab me by the arms — I try to twist out of their grasp, but my foot snags on a chain and I fall headlong to the ground. I slam into the dirt and the air leaves my lungs. The soldiers are already forcing me up, and dragging, pushing, me into the cage. Stars are flashing in my eyes, I can't breathe, my vision's blurring.

Yona. I grab hold of the bars and dig my feet into the cracks between the cart's boards. I manage to turn my head. I can't see her — no, she's still here — red flashes in the crowd.

'Get out!' I yell. She's darting, running through the crowd, I can't keep my eyes on her.

Splinters are ripping into my hands. Blood and sweat spatters my skin. A heavy blow lands on my back, and I stagger, and fall to my knees. My knuckles are locked around the bars. They want me alive. They can't get their reward if they beat me to death. My brain believes it, but my body doesn't. I look back, trying to see Yona in the blurred crowd. A flash of red. 'Run!' I yell. ' _You promised!_ '

One of the soldiers raises the handle of his sword. _This already hurts too much_.

A flash. My vision's getting worse.

Then I see the throwing knife sticking out of the soldier's neck. They all freeze.

I look over my shoulder. Yona stands there, glittering with metal. Her fingers sparkle with throwing knives. 'I didn't promise you anything!' she screams, before before unleashing all the rage of the heavens upon them.

Throwing knives flash through the air and the soldiers scatter, yelling and cursing. She's terrible, an amateur. But they don't know that. And as ugly as her technique is, she's hitting a few of them. Archery and knife throwing have one thing in common. Aim.

Yona snatches up a sword from the ground, and sprints towards me, heedless of the six soldiers between me and her. My hands are still clenched around the bars. They're trembling. What's she going to do? Kill them?

'Get out of my way!' she yells, and slashes upwards. One of the soldiers stumbles back, but suddenly they're behind her. One smashes the sword from her hand, and the rest force her to the ground. She hits the dirt, and her hair tumbles over her face.

The official strides over and snaps, 'Kill the wench. She brings dishonour on herself.'

My heart stops. One of the soldiers raises his sword, and drops it to Yona's neck. She raises her head. The sword is a finger's length from her face. Her eyes widen.

My heart slams against my ribs. My blood starts to burn. It's pure agony, and it feels _so_ good.

Pain explodes in my leg, and it feels like it's on fire. This is the kind of pain I like. This pain is power.

I run a hand over my dragon's leg. Cracks thread through my manacles, and my chains glow white-hot.

I stand.

And the chains shatter.

 _To be continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Mm... figured I'd just put in a warning that the next chapter or two involve a lot of battle violence and Jeaha kicking people really hard? Anyway, enjoy.

Yona

The metal gleams. I'm going to die.

Will it hurt?

The sword carves the air above my head — I squeeze my eyes shut, and scream, ' _Hak!_ '

I… forgot. Hak's not here. Nobody's going to save me.

I hear something shatter. My bones? Am I dead?

Everything is silent. Am I in the afterlife?

I open my eyes. I'm still here, the sword falls, right before my eyes —

A shadow flies overhead, and I hear a crunch, and an awful, inhuman scream. I stare at the ground, and blood spatters everywhere. A few droplets fall on my hands. I can hear screams, running feet. Gore rains down around me, slapping the ground with wet squelches. Shards of bone spit like shrapnel, and a fresh burst of blood pours over the dirt.

I look up. Jeaha drops from the air, and lands, as graceful as a cat. He looks around at the gory carnage. He licks a drop of blood from his hand, and glances to my left. 'Oops.' I follow his gaze, and I'm too shocked to even gag. The town official is splattered with the dead soldier's remains. Jeaha smirks. 'Guess I got a little carried away.'

He drops to one knee, at my side. 'Are you okay, kiddo?'

I don't respond, because I'm too distracted. One leg of his trousers has burned away, and a few scraps of leather are are all that's left of one of his boots.

I've never seen his dragon's leg before.

It's covered in shimmering, overlapping green scales. He has sharp, gleaming, hooked claws on his toes. It's beautiful.

Something… I don't know what it's normally meant to look like, but…

The heat rolling off his scales is making the air shimmer. I can see veins pulsing under the skin. You can almost touch the lightning in the air.

'Are you okay?' I look up. Jeaha's brow is creased. His chest is heaving.

Tears spring to my eyes, and I bury my head in his chest. 'Why are you asking _me_? What about _you_?'

Jeaha smiles. He looks up over my shoulder, and the smile turns into a smirk. He brushes the tears off my cheeks. 'You really thought they could keep me tied down?' He lowers his head, and presses his forehead to mine. His eyes meet mine. 'Save the tears for later. We've gotta whip these idiots all the way into the next kingdom. Got it?'

I smile back. 'Yeah.'

Jeaha stands, and pulls me up. 'Then let's do it. I don't know about you,' he says, and winks, 'but I need to stretch my legs.'

Throwing knives lie abandoned on the ground. The soldiers are keeping their distance, and the rest of the townspeople have fled. Doors are still slamming shut in the distance. I can hear whispers rising like the sound of a hailstorm.

'…A monster…' 'Look at that leg…' 'The rumours were true!'

The town official brushes the worst of the blood and gore from his robes.

Jeaha cracks his knuckles, and stretches his arms, holding the official's gaze. 'So? You going to let us go… or is this going to get ugly?'

The offical looks mad enough to spit. I wonder what's going through his head.

Jeaha draws one foot back, and the soldier's hands fly to their swords. 'I'm only giving you a choice because the girl seems to be unharmed. Otherwise, I'd burn this place to the ground.'

The official says nothing, and exchanges a few words with one of the soldiers.

Jeaha leans down, and whispers, 'Stay out of my range, and try to get some of our knives back. And don't get caught.'

'But why don't we just fly out — '

Then I see them. Archers. Ready to shoot us down. They know that Jeaha can fly.

'You want me to take them out,' I say.

He looks exasperated, and shakes me by the shoulder. 'I want you to _keep clear_ and I'll take _all_ of them out _myself_.' He flicks his hair out of his eyes. 'I'd just walk — well, fly — off, except they messed with us a little too much.'

The offical disappears as soldiers form ranks between us and him. 'Keep him alive. Kill the girl if you must.'

'I'll take the archers. Watch my back?' I say.

'Move!' he yells, and I throw myself headlong across the clearing as Jeaha's foot splits the air above my head.

A percussive blast hits my back, and a gale roars. My hair flurries wildly. A soldier hurtles through the air, a bleeding pinwheel, and smashes into a tree. I skid past his corpse and take shelter. Jeaha vaults backwards, into a spinning back kick. A shockwave tears through the ground and sky, and rips into a line of soldiers.

I can feel the shockwave from here. Am I… scared? Of him?

Metal glints at my feet, and I snap out of it. Blades. Archers. Go, go, go.

I snatch up the knife, and stick it in my sash. Another. I spot one further along and I make a dash for it. My heart's going to smash out of my chest — a sword shoots past me, sticks in a tree, and I snatch the blade up, right before a soldier's corpse lands on it.

Jeaha streaks past me, and pivots into a sidekick. The crack punches through the air. A wave of green sparks pours across the ground, crackling and burning, devouring grass and fallen soldiers. I sprint for the verandah and leap up as the sparks zing past below.

Metal rings, and my head jerks up. Jeaha has a throwing knife in each hand and is holding off two swords at once, muscles straining. If he wasn't on such a high, I'd be terrified that he'd get cut — without his coat, all it will take is one slice.

I leap off again, and continue my mad dash. I snatch up another blade, but a shadow falls over me and a soldier grabs me by the arm. _Oh no you don't_. I spin a blade in my fingers and punch upwards. The blade plunges through his neck and blood splashes down my arm, then he falls. I flick the drips from my fingers. I hadn't even stopped running.

Jeaha and I cross paths, and for a second we're back to back. I shove blades into his hands. 'Thanks, kid,' he says. He glances over his shoulder and winks. 'How many have you taken out?'

'I don't care if you've got mythical powers — _concentrate, you idiot_!' I scream at him, and sprint off again, heading for the official's house, for the verandah. Corpses are strewn over the ground, but we're not done yet. I hoist myself up onto the verandah, and slink up to an archer, blade in my hand.

He's aiming, bow drawn. Jeaha drops into the centre of the clearing, already locked onto his next target. I slam into the archer and he hits his head on a post, and hits the floor.

His bow is already in my hands. The other archers turn. An arrow through the first. Through the second. The third runs away. The fourth is already aiming, but a throwing knife glides through his neck and he falls into a puddle of his own blood.

Done. I don't have time to wonder whether they're dead.

I sling the bow and a quiver over my shoulder, and vault over the balcony, into a wild gale. Dust wreaths through the air, blurring the scattered bodies. Green light streaks around me, and cracks punch the air, followed by blasts of wind.

'Jeaha?' I call. 'Let's get out of here!'

I reach a hand into the storm, something snaps through the air and nearly takes my hand off. I'm not going to try that again. Come on, Jeaha…

Suddenly fire rips across my shoulder. Blood spatters the ground. I dive, roll, and skid to the side, and a blade splits the dirt beside me.

It's the official.

 _To be continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** And another warning for Jeaha kicking people really hard!

* * *

✧Jeaha✧

I could get used to this. I always find combat easy, but this is a whole new level. Each kick feels like a thunderclap, and the sound echoes in my bones.

Several soldiers try to rush me at once. I leap up, hammer kick one, and use him as a springboard to flip into a back kick that sends the rest hurtling into piles of rubble, blood streaming from their faces.

My talons are drenched in blood. I grin. Maybe I should fight barefoot more often.

I'm moving so fast that sometimes I can see green shimmering in the air. Soldiers keep coming at me. It's not that I'm trying to kill them. I'm trying _not to._ But with this new level of power, anything can, and does happen, and Yona's either too shell-shocked or too busy to try and call me off. One soldier tries to get in a sword slice. A crescent kick rips the sword from his hand… and his hand from his arm. 'Come on, get a clue.' One comes up from behind. I dodge, and roundhouse kick him into the next one, and they both skitter across the ground.

'I guess you guys have been drilled to try and kill me — ' I pause to deal with a rather persistent soldier, ' — in the face of impossible odds, am I right?'

There's hardly any men left, just corpses. It doesn't mean that I drop my guard, however. A blade flashes behind me — I shift, the soldier overbalances, and I take the sword and impale him on it.

I trip over something — it's my coat. I quickly pull it back on and snap any blades I've got back in their sheaths. It's seen better days, but at least it might slow any cuts.

At least I don't have to worry about the archers. Yona. I step back and let two soldiers skewer each other. She moves pretty quick — where's she gone? I use a broken cart as a spring board and leap into the air. I'm not used to flying with my leg like this and I overshoot.

I see her, she's… On the ground. A sword is embedded in the earth beside her. I flip. Throwing knives gleam between my fingers and I streak downwards.

It's the official. He rips his sword out of the ground, and Yona stumbles backwards. She's pressing one hand to her shoulder — and her hand is drenched in blood.

My dragon's leg spasms. I narrow my eyes. It looks like I get to keep my promise.

The offical raises his sword, and screams something at her, his voice blurred by the roaring wind.

They're too close. It's too late to change course now. Focus. Get this right.

The sword falls and I blaze past her — _touching her_ — and flip into a sidekick.

The official's eyes widen. 'Have fun in hell, _sir_ ,' I say.

The official tumbles through the air, blood streaming from the burning hole in his chest, and crunches into the double doors of his house. The wood shatters, buries him, and bursts into flame.

I land, and drop to one knee.

' _Jeaha!_ ' Yona throws herself at me, arms around my neck, hands tangled in my hair, half knocking me over. I briefly hug her back.

Then I see the tear in the shoulder of her gown. My heart skips a beat. 'That piece of — '

'Hmm? Oh,' she says, and presses her hand back to her shoulder. I feel sick. Her hand is _dripping_ with blood.

I start to panic. 'We've got to stop the bleeding,' I say and wince inside, as I reach to start ripping up my coat for bandages.

Yona looks confused, then her face brightens. 'It's not my blood.' And she holds up her blood-drenched hand with a smile. 'A soldier grabbed me, so I punched him through the neck with a throwing knife. You know, like you showed me the other day. I guess it must have worked, because I got blood all over my hand.'

I'm speechless. Then I laugh. I can't help it, I laugh so hard I think I might break a rib.

Yona smacks me on the shoulder but she starts laughing too, even though she's still trying to look indignant. 'What are you laughing at?!'

I try and get my breath back. 'Sorry, it's just — you're amazing, you know that?' She smiles.

I slide her gown off her shoulder, expecting a blow over the head or a pervert comment, but she doesn't seem to mind. A thin red thread arches over her collarbone. I gently wipe away the few beads of blood. It doesn't even need bandaging.

I sigh with relief. 'It's fine.'

'What about you?' she asks.

Power is still surging through my veins. 'Never better.'

I take Yona in my arms and stand. The air's warm, mostly due to the raging inferno of the official's house. Looks like hell came to him, and didn't even wait until he was completely dead.

A few soldiers are hiding in the shadows. I feel a small twinge of guilt. Could things have played out any other way? I don't know.

Yona's safe, that's all that matters. I shift her in my arms, and realise she's picked up a bow and quiver from somewhere. She passes me the blades she collected, and I slide them into my coat. 'We're done here.'

My dragon's leg has stopped throbbing, now it just pulses in time with my heartbeat.

I draw one leg back, and glance at Yona. She hooks her arms around my neck. 'By the way, I couldn't ask for a prettier or more lethal battle companion, kiddo,' he says.

Yona's eyes sparkle. We blaze into the sky, and before we know it, we're up above the clouds.

'Wowww!' Yona says, eyes wide.

I actually don't think I've flown this high before. During the morning, a sea of fluffy white clouds has rolled in.

'It's so clean up here, I feel dirty,' she says.

She's got dirt and blood on her faces, her hair looks terrible, and her dress is ripped in quite a few places. And I was the one doing most of the fighting. I chuckle.

'Where should we go?' she asks.

I'm starting to feel tired. 'I don't know.' Really tired. The pain starts trickling in: my bruised back, scraped wrists, cuts, gashes, bruises. My vision's starting to blur. I haven't eaten in days… Have I? I can't feel my leg at all, but then it starts throbbing with agonising pain.

'I think I've hit my limit, kid.'

She looks at me. 'Huh?'

My grip on her is loosening. She can feel it, and her fingers dig into my skin. 'Jeaha!'

'Sorry, if I, y'know…'

We're really high, aren't we?

'…Drop you. Feel free to scream at me if it makes you feel better.'

Her eyes widen. We start to fall.

'JEAAAHAAAAAAA!'

Screaming. A girl's voice.

It fades into the blackness, and I wonder whose voice it is.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

 **A/N:** Two-thirds of the way through! Thanks to zee, DFreddy3773, Mimiluvbug, and phantomlord878 for reviewing! Enjoy the rest, guys!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Yikes, sorry I missed yesterday's chapter, guys! Sorry! ...It seems to be an established fact that all my multichapter fics have at least one well-documented production hiccup... Anyway, enjoy :)

* * *

➶Yona➴

My scream goes on and on and on. 'JEAAHAAAAA!'

The wind roars in my eyes. I can barely see. My hands lock up, little claws clinging to Jeaha's robe.

How far are we going to fall?

'JEAHA!' His body is limp; his eyes are closed.

I shake his shoulder, I slap his face, I even pull his hair. If we survive, he'll kill me. 'WAKE UP!' I scream.

I claw at his face, at his neck, my broken fingernails making red grazes on his skin.

'JEAHA, WAKE _UP!'_

We can't have much further to fall. We're going to die. It's really going to end here. My tears and strangled sobs disappear on the wind.

Beneath his jacket, I claw and punch at him, I kick him in the shins, and yelp — one of his legs feels like it's made of iron.

My fingers catch on something. A throwing knife. 'JEAHA! WAKE UP OR I'LL _STAB YOU TO DEATH!_ '

I grit my teeth, and jab him with the blade.

His eyes flicker. I grab him by the collar, both hands, and scream until my voice breaks. 'JEAHA, WE'RE GOING TO _DIE_!'

His eyes open a little wider, but they're still unfocused. He pulls me closer to him; we're slowing, just a little, spinning through the air like a crazed firework.

We're going to be alright. We're —

And we hit the tree. We rip straight through the branches. My face gets lashed. I cry out. We rip through more branches. I hide my face in Jeaha's chest as a thousand woody hands snag and tear at my gown. We hurtle through the air, slam against a cliff — Jeaha taking the brunt of the impact — and plummet downwards through a web of branches, before the forest relinquishes us and spits us out into a tangle of ferns and rocks.

I burst into tears. 'Owww!' The sun's too bright, everything's too bright, and my ears are ringing. I cry until I can't breathe, and have to gasp for breath.

I force myself up, lean over, and am violently sick.

I rub my mouth with my sleeve. Soft, lime-green light filters through a thick veil of leaves. A single note of birdsong pipes up, joined by others. A breeze rustles the branches.

It feels like we fell into a different world.

Jeaha. I freeze, and turn.

He's sprawled face-down beside me.

He's not dead. That's ridiculous. I pause, then scream, 'JEAHA!'

I shake him, shake him until his blades rattle. 'Come on.' Straining, I manage to turn him onto his side. 'Come on.' He's bleeding. _What do I do?_ 'Don't die.' _Is he breathing? I don't think he's breathing._ 'Wake up.' _These things always look worse than they really are, right? Right?_

I touch his neck. I can't — is his heart beating? Or am I meant to check his wrist? I squeeze his wrist until I feel the bones creak. 'Je—'

His lips move.

'Jeaha!' I force him to sit up. 'Talk to me! Follow the sound of my voice!' I can barely hold him upright. 'I forbid you to die on me! I _forbid it_ , Jeaha!'

The hair falling over his eye is streaked with blood. His eyes flicker open, and he looks up. He manages a weak half-smile. 'I'll try, bossy boots.'

He's alive. He… could have died. I could have lost him. And been here all alone.

I burst into wracking sobs, crying so hard that I can't see, can't breathe. I cry until I'm out of tears, and am left sniffing and hiccuping until I can breathe properly again.

I wipe the tears from my eyes and look up at him. 'Are you…' My voice fades.

He looks half dead. Blood quietly seeps from scrapes and cuts. Deep bruises pool beneath his tattered clothing. His eyes are filled with pain, and each time he breathes, he grits his teeth.

He gets to his knees, and turns away. 'Wait!' I panic. 'What are you d—'

He throws up.

'Oh,' I say. He coughs, hard. All I can do is look away, and place a hand on his shoulder. The noise stops, and he turns back to me, leaving my hand resting on air.

He looks fragile, like he's made of china. 'Are you —' I ask again, and break off. I'm not an stupid. He's not okay.

The grazes and scratches I gave him… I kicked him, I pulled his hair… I even _cut_ him, all to get him to wake up. Tears well up again. _Am I always such a crybaby?_

'I'm… sorry,' I sniff. He stares at me. 'You wouldn't wake up… Look what I did to you.' My lips won't stop trembling. 'I'm… so… sorry!' I choke out.

Jeaha brushes a hand over his face, and looks at it. '…I didn't even notice. I've got worse problems. Besides,' he says, with a weak smile, 'what could a kitten like you do to me anyway?'

He looks down, and runs a hand over his dragon's leg. He inhales through his teeth.

I look. 'For the love of the Crimson Dragon King,' I manage to whisper.

I feel like I might throw up again.

A sickly green mist wreaths around his leg. The scales are charred in places, and some are ripped clean off. Seeping cuts encircles his ankle. You can see the veins through the skin.

Something's not… right. 'It looks, larger?'

Jeaha leans back on his hands, and looks at the sky. 'I can resize it at will, apparently. Not that I knew I could until today. It just… happened. All it took was you and I broke my limits.'

Because of me.

Jeaha draws his leg up, one hand under his knee, and his face turns white. Sweat drips down his neck. It must hurt so bad. He did all that for me. Went through all that pain for me.

Jeaha looks up, and his brow creases. Tears are running down my face again.

'I'm so sorry,' I say. 'It's not fair. I-I _asked_ you to come with me, but it's not fair — why is it you, and the others, that are destined to go through all that pain? I-I'm so selfish, it's so c-cruel!'

Jeaha says nothing, then says, 'D_ destiny — I don't have to do anything.'

It's my turn to stare.

He sighs. 'I never wanted to join the dragon warriors, and it took a long time for you to break me down. My blood compels me to follow you, but I've still got a will of my own. I chose to come through hell and high water with you because I wanted to. Not because of some dusty myth. I'm still following my own path — it just happens to line up with yours.'

He reaches, and brushes a strand of hair from my eyes. He smiles. 'If I'd known you were going to be a girl, however, I would have been on board sooner. And now I know what it's like to be a Dragon Warrior… I guess I'm used to it. So now you're stuck with me, because I'm not that easy to kill off. You're a pain, and a nuisance, and people might say you're more trouble than you're worth, but — I don't know — you're worth it to me, at least.'

He's never let me see so far into his heart before. Another chink, another piece of the puzzle.

He sags, and I quickly move to give him my shoulder. His hair hides his eyes. But I can hear his breathing; it's ragged. My tears are slowing. They're more quiet. He leans on me — it's hard holding up his weight, but I want to help him, be there for him like he is for me.

'So what do we do?' I ask. We're both looking at the wreck of his leg.

'We're going to have to clean this up.'

He grits his teeth.

'...I wish Yun was here right now.'

 _To be continued..._


	12. Chapter 12

✧Jeaha✧

'Help me up,' I say.

Yona's jaw drops. 'What?! You're can barely breathe, let alone —'

I point, and Yona turns. A stream curves through the clearing we landed in. 'We've got to start somewhere. I don't want to find out by experience if dragon limbs can get infected. Besides, the cold water might help.'

She hesitates, then gives me her hand. I'll be fine. It's only about ten steps. I'm in raw agony already, so it can't get much worse. She pulls me up, but the second I put weight on my leg, I know I was wrong.

Pain rips up my leg and into my back. I stumble, and it's only Yona keeping me upright. 'I'm fine,' I force out, before she can start panicking. Almost every part of me, is screaming, _Not fine, not fine._ 'I'm fine,' I tell myself. 'Fine.'

'If you tell yourself something often enough, sometimes it manifests itself as truth,' Yona says. She sounds breathless. She's probably supporting me more than I realise. She places my arm over her shoulders and puts her arm around my waist.

'Oh? Who told you that?' I say, and take a step.

My vision blackens. Pain stabs through me, like a sheath of knives. My legs are trembling; my dragon's leg feels like it's on fire.

'Jeaha?' My vision clears. Yona looks terrified.

'I'm fine. Never —' My leg pulses, and I break off, swallowing hard. 'Never better.'

Nine more steps. I can't do this. Someone kill me now.

'The Oracle.'

I blink, and glance at Yona. 'What?'

'Iksu said that.'

My mind is shot. I can't even remember what she was talking about, even though it was only a moment ago. 'Well, that sounds like him.'

I take another step. I feel slightly less like I'm going to die this time. My vision blurs in and out of focus.

'Are you doing okay?' she asks.

'I'd rather impale myself on a mace and be eaten alive by dogs.'

She's speechless.

I sigh. 'Come on then, distract me.'

Another step. It feels like somebody put a crossbow bolt through my hip.

'…I can't think of anything. Sorry,' she says.

Another step. Only seven more. I stop, I need to rest. 'Doesn't… matter…' I say between ragged breaths.

'I'm scared, Jeaha.' I look down at her. 'I wish Yun was here, I know nothing about treating injuries.'

I take another step. Once the pain ebbs away, I say, 'I'm doing enough worrying for both of us, so don't you start.'

'But you've got to walk — let me do _something_!'

I take another step. I think I might be sick again. 'You are doing something, you're keeping me from falling over so _concentrate_.' She flinches. It came out harsher than I meant. 'I'm —'

'Don't worry,' she says, eyes lowered. 'I know you're in a lot of pain.'

I manage a weak grin. 'You're an angel.' Another step. As horrendous as the pain is, I'm getting used to it. Good. I need to. A thought comes into focus, making my knees buckle, but I can't ignore it — we're going to need to plan, and start walking out of here. Soon.

I fall silent, and force myself to take the last four steps, one after the other, and we both collapse on the stream's bank. Yona pulls her slippers off. I just breathe for a minute. She touches my good foot. 'Oh, Jeaha, your boots.'

The boot on my good foot is blackened, stained with dirt and blood. The leather is ripped, and the sole has almost fallen off. As for the other… A few shreds of leather are all that's left. 'Well, I was sort asking for it. Wearing white boots, I mean.' I still feel a pang. I've had these for years. I blew all my savings on them and Captain Gi-gan nearly killed me when I came back to the ship wearing them. I manage a smile.

Even just leaning forward to ease my boot off makes me wince. Yona drops her feet into the stream, and I lower mine in. It's not winter, but the water's still cold. Gradually, the pain starts to numb. The water stills and the ripples fade.

Our reflections look back at us. 'We look awful,' Yona says.

We really do. 'But we're alive, aren't we?'

'Yeah. We are.'

I let myself fall back onto the river bank, the cold water still washing over my legs. Hints of blue melt into the emerald canopy above.

'Go ahead and clean up, if you want,' I say, closing my eyes. Breathing and talking hurt a little, but it's a dream compared to trying to walk. 'I can't see anything from here.'

A hand smacks me on the chest. 'Pervert!'

'I said can't see anything!' I protest. 'Besides — have a heart, I'm grievously wounded, remember?'

'I know, or I would have slapped your face.'

I hear a rustle of fabric. I keep my eyes shut. The others would just about murder me if Yona says that I 'compromised her purity,' or some other complaint. Suddenly, a pile of fabric — her cloak — hits me in the face, and covers my eyes.

'What? Come on, Yona — a gentleman always keeps his word!

I hear splashing. 'You're a pirate?'

'I'm insulted. I'm a _gentleman_ pirate. Besides, I lived in Awa for twelve years and I didn't set up a _single_ girl the whole time I was there!'

'Oh really?' she says.

'I had to work round the clock to manage, but hey, I'm a busy guy.'

I get splashed for my efforts.

'That feels kind of good, actually.'

And then I get drenched.

'Gah! What — did you find a bucket at the bottom of the stream?!'

'Wash your _self_ ,' she says, with a hint of laughter in her voice.

'Okay, fine.'

Water droplets spatter my arm, fabric rustles, and she takes her cloak from my face. Strands of wet hair cling to her neck. I sit up, and wince. Moving, breathing — it's all going to hurt for a while. I take my coat off, and undo my vest and take that off too. I look terrible. Bruised and cut all over. Ugly, even.

I undo the drawstring of my trousers, and Yona chokes and spins away, spluttering. I raise an eyebrow. 'I didn't realise you wanted a look — at least let me clean myself up first.'

' _I was NOT looking_!' she protests. 'Besides, _tell me_ if you're going to, to…'

'What, taking my coat off wasn't enough of a warning?' I sigh. 'Fine, how about I leave my trousers on for the sake of your sensitivities, Your Highness?'

She turns bright scarlet. 'I'm not even _looking_ , you pervert!' She makes a noise between a hiss and a cough, and flops down on the grass, with her back to me.

I shake my head, and slide into the water, keeping my weight off my bad foot. I have to lean against the stream's bank, too weak to stand on my own. I pull the ribbon from my hair, and it falls over my shoulders. Slowly, the dirt and blood are washed away. I cup water in my hands, and drink until my chest aches. I drop underwater, and come back up, gasping for breath.

'Are you all right?' Yona still has her back to me.

'Trying to wash my hair.' It's never been this snarled before. I wince as I run my fingers through the knots. I'd kill for a comb right about now.

'You should just cut it all off,' Yona says, and fingers her own short bob.

 _She cut hers?_ I wonder why? I laugh. 'No thanks.'

'But really, how do you stand waiting for it to dry?' She almost turns around, but checks herself. 'And doesn't it blow everywhere when you're flying?'

I smile, and loosely my hair back. 'I like the feel of it.'

Yona smiles too. 'Well who cares then?'

I place a hand on the stream's bank, and realise I'll need help. 'Give me a hand.'

She glances over, warily. 'Have you got clothes on?'

'To a degree, yes.'

She grimaces, and walks over. She blushes slightly. She steps to the edge, holding out her hand, but I guess the ground must be wet, because she slips and falls into my arms with a huge splash.

The water settles, and we blink at each other. She feels small in my arms. I don't know what I'm feeling. How much of this longing is the dragon's blood in my veins? I wish I knew. I wish I knew what I'm feeling at all.

'This seems inappropriate,' she says.

I lean against the stream's bank. 'Probably.' I wink. 'Intentional or not, enjoy it while you can.'

She raises her hand, but stops and flushes bright red. _Huh?_ Then she slaps me in the face. No mercy. Her hand feels like a kitten's paw, and I smile. It stings a bit. 'You pervert!'

'Come on, kid — any girl would give their right arm to be in your place.'

I wonder if she'd let me kiss her.

'I can't see why,' she grumbles.

Wishful thinking. 'You're cute, you know.'

She grits her teeth, and her eyes flash. 'You're so patronising!'

 _No, you're just… innocent. Maybe that's what's different about you._ Not just a nameless girl in a dark room, a girl that I never see again after the sun rises.

She's different — makes _me_ different.

She scrambles onto the bank, and holds out her hand. 'Let's try that again.'

'Sure.' I'll keep trying. I take her hand. But sometimes I don't know what I'm really trying to do.

 _To be continued..._


	13. Chapter 13

➶Yona➴

I help Jeaha out and he drops to the ground, leaning against a weeping willow beside the stream. My breath catches. His other injuries are bared for me to see: murky bruises painted across his back, a scattering of nicks and scrapes over his skin, and deep cuts encircling his wrists and ankles like bloodstained jewellry. Tree roots trail through the water. His eyes are closed.

I squeeze droplets from the ends of my hair. Did he fall asleep? But as I kneel beside him, I hear his ragged breathing. Faint creases mark the corners of his eyes, and occasionally he grits his teeth.

'Jeaha?' He doesn't respond right away. After a moment, he opens his eyes. 'What… now?' I ask.

He says nothing, and rests a hand on his dragon's leg. The blood and dirt have been washed away, but it's still marred with ugly wounds that make my stomach turn. 'We don't even have bandages.'

…My dress is satin, he'll freeze without his coat —

'Here,' I say, and take my cloak off. I try to start ripping strips off the hem but they go wonky.

Jeaha takes a knife from his coat, but hesitates. 'It's yours —'

'You need it,' I say.

'Leave yourself the hood, at least,' he says, and starts slicing off strips of fabric. 'For your hair.'

'It's not like there's anyone around.'

If anything, the comment makes him look more depressed. I suggest, 'Should I go look for help?'

He passes back the cape's hood. There's just enough fabric left to cover my shoulders. A capelet. 'No.'

'But maybe there's a village nearby —'

'No!' he snaps.

I freeze. Then I see his hands trembling. He says, 'Sorry. I can't — look, I… I'm too —'

'I'm probably being stupid,' I mutter. There are probably things I haven't thought of.

'You are. Stupidly optimistic,' he says, and manages a half smile.

He looks so tired. His words are fraying around the edges.

'Try not to talk,' I say.

He looks relieved, and I realise I've been prattling on like an idiot, not even realising that talking would tire him even more. All I want to do is help…

Jeaha pulls vest on, and his coat, loosely fastening both. He then pulls his trousers off, and I flush bright red, even though I'm not seeing much more seeing as they were so ripped, and besides, from where I'm sitting I can't really see anything anyway, and I… I'm still blushing.

Slowly, he starts bandaging his dragon's leg, wincing, as he winds the fabric around his foot. The burns, ripped scales, and wounds start to disappear, but sometimes he has to stop and breathe, sweat trickling down his jaw and neck. Wait… Tears, too? How much does it hurt?

I squeeze my hands in my lap. I want to help, but I'm worse than useless here.

He runs out of bandages and weaves the trailing ends together, and tucks them in. The bandages cover his leg from his toes almost to his hip. His talons have disappeared, and I can't see any hint of his scales.

He opens the collar of his jacket. I wince, seeing the wounds all over again. Deep bruises and cuts are spread over his chest, and I know there's more further down. But… we're out of bandages?

'You used all of them on your leg?' I ask.

Jeaha runs a hand down his calf. 'It hasn't gone back to it's normal size. …Yet. It's the best way to hide it.'

He pulls his trousers back on, and I see what he means. One trouser leg is ripped almost to the waist, and the other is in tatters.

I reach, and brush the strands of hair that hang thickly over Jeaha's eyes away from his face. Blood trickles down his forehead and past his eye like a crimson tear.

I rip a strip off my cape and gently bandage his head. I'm not useless, I can do this much. I knot the ends and let his hair fall back over his eye.

'Maybe I'm concussed,' he says.

I rack my brains. 'What day of the week is it?' I ask him. His face goes blank. I grimace, and say, 'I have no idea either. What _month_ is it?'

'The seventh month.'

'What's your name?'

'Jeaha. Handsome rogue with a dragon dwelling in my right leg.'

I give him a look. 'What's _my_ name?'

He smiles. 'Yona. Prettiest and klutziest travelling companion this side of the kingdom.'

I snap my finger against his face. 'Why do you have to mix your insults and compliments — it makes it hard to slap you,' I grumble. He manages a laugh, and winces, but there's a little more light in his eyes.

I reach for the knife, and the cape; we need to bandage his other injuries.

He places a hand on mine. 'Don't. There's not even enough fabric there to bandage anything.'

'But —!' I protest.

Jeaha looks down. His breath is soft on my arm. He fastens his coat closed. 'If I can't see it, I can ignore it, just for a little while. I'll worry about it later, but… I don't think I can right now.'

I lean against the tree, in the crook of his arm. He pulls me a little closer. I rest my head against his shoulder, and he rests his head against mine. If just being with him will help him, make him feel better, I'll stay with him, right here.

My eyes start to close. I can't fight the warmth, or my tiredness. I fall asleep.

I wake to a clearing bathed in red and gold, and someone's arm around me.

'Hak?'

It's not Hak, it's Jeaha. 'Sorry I woke you,' he whispers.

'Mmm, it's fine,' I say, stretching my arms above my head. 'Did you sleep?'

'No.'

'Aren't you tired?'

'I've got a lot on my mind,' he says. I notice one of his knives laying across his lap. He's fingering the handle.

Come to think of it, I'm kind of starving. My heart sinks. Where are we meant to get food? We're in no condition to hunt.

On cue, I hear a faint rumble. Jeaha crosses his arms.

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. 'I thought you said you had a dragon dwelling in your _leg_ , not your stomach.'

He doesn't laugh, or even smile. My grin fades. 'I — when did you last eat?'

'Before the earthquake, I guess…' he says.

And I thought _I_ was starving, and I had _breakfast_. He hasn't eaten for… two days? Questions come flooding back into my mind: the town, his imprisonment, the official, everything, but now's not the time for that.

'I-I'm sorry,' I stammer.

'Don't worry about it,' he says, and forces a smile. 'I can go without food for weeks.'

My heart thuds. How does he know that? By experience? And why did he say weeks — does he think we'll be stranded here that long?

He doesn't notice my panic, and says, 'Still. _You_ need to eat. It would be great if you had your bow.' He shakes his head and looks away.

I stand. And sprint off.

'Where the _h__ do you think you're going?!' he yells after me.

 _Please, please, please._ An arrow here, and there, glints of metal scattered around the clearing.

The bow lies across a fallen log.

I scream, and snatch it up, spinning round and round and round, until I trip and fall and hit the earth. I lie on my back, laughing, and holding up the bow so it gleams in the sunset.

' _Don't make me come over there!_ ' Jeaha yells.

I get to my knees, and hold the bow up with one hand. 'Jeaha! The bow! I found a bow at the village!'

His face is blank, then a light snaps on in his eyes. He laughs, so hard that he has to hold his ribs, wincing through his smile.

I sling the bow over my shoulder and run around the clearing, picking up arrows, and I find the quiver caught in a tree branch. I pull the strap over my head and spin, the sky a cyclone of fire and gold above.

I've got a bow. Now I can do anything.

 _To be continued..._


	14. Chapter 14

✧Jeaha✧

'I'll be back,' Yona says with a smile. She looks like a different girl now that she has a bow again, bold and confident.

She turns, and I grasp her hand. 'Wait.' She looks back at me. 'Be careful.' I don't want to say it, but I have to. 'I can't come flying to your rescue, y'know?'

'I won't go far,' she says, and runs off, disappearing behind a tangle of branches bathed in red light.

My leg pulses, and a tremor flashes through my stomach. Even though she's probably fine, whenever I can't protect her… it makes me uneasy. Curse this dragon's blood. I wonder if the others feel this way.

The others. I've had no time or strength to reach out to them. I try to sense them, but I'm too weak. My head's clouded with fog. I'll have to wait.

With nothing to distract me, my mind starts racing. I know I got us far enough away from Tea-Shai, so that's over and done with. But as for where we are now… In a slit of sky above, deeply wooded mountains tower overhead. Maybe somewhere to the west?

We can't stay here forever. Tonight, probably, but after that we'll have to start moving. My leg cramps, and I wince. I don't know if I could stand up right now if my — no, Yona's — life depended on it. At least the bandages hide the real giveaways.

My coat doesn't reach to the ground. A boot on one foot, bandages on the other. The contrast let alone the size difference between the two is enough to make you do a double take. All I can do is hope it's not so obvious when I'm walking.

A wild screech echoes. I start, before I realise Yona must have made a kill. It couldn't have been her getting hurt. Couldn't.

The dusk is giving way to twilight.

A scuffling, dragging noise. My fingers close around a blade. 'Yona?'

'Yeah?' she says after a moment, panting.

'Sorry, I can't see you.' The noise starts up again. '…What are you doing?'

'It's heavy!' she says.

I raise an eyebrow. 'What, did you bring down a bear?'

'Stop teasing, Jeaha,' she says, and appears, dragging a deer by its legs.

'Why didn't you sling it over your shoulders?'

She stops to glare at me. 'My clothes are filthy already — the last thing I need is more bloodstains!'

'Fair enough.'

She drags the deer to my side. I unsheathe a hunting knife, and start on the messy work. 'See what you can do for firewood,' I say.

She runs off again. I gut and clean the deer as fast as I can. I'm normally fine with blood and guts, but I'm not at my 'normal' right now.

I roughly bundle up the mess. A sour, metallic smell fills the air, and my stomach turns. Yona comes back, and swaps the carcass for firewood. With a screwed-up face, she walks off and flings the carcass into the woods.

We work in silence, cutting meat, piling up firewood, making mistakes and getting through it.

I pass Yona a chain with bits of metal and stone threaded on it. 'Scrape them together,' I say. Sparks pour everywhere and she shrieks. 'Over the fire, not your lap,' I say, trying not to smile.

The fire's heart starts to glow, and flames lick through the tangled twigs and branches. Yona's eyes sparkle. 'I thought we'd have to spend forever lighting it — what is that?'

'It's a flint. I keep it sewn into my coat — it's not the sort of thing you want to lose.'

She settles down by the fire, chin in her hands, the warm glow reflected in her eyes. 'Ah!' she says. 'Sorry, I forgot the food.'

She starts threading the meat onto twigs, and digging the skewers into the dirt around the fire. I know she can't cook; it'll be charred at best and raw at worst. I watch her. 'Ow, it's hot,' she says under her breath, wiping hot juices off her fingers. She's trying hard. I smile.

She looks at me warily. 'What are you smiling about?'

 _Gah, she caught me_. I'm off my game. 'We're alive; I'm on a dinner date with my favourite girl; the list goes on and on.'

She scoffs, but smiles. 'Here,' she says, handing me a skewer. 'Enjoy.'

How does she look so cute?

She reaches to get herself a skewer too. The meat's burning hot, but I wolf it down in seconds. Earthy, bitter — well, burnt, really — but somehow sweet, too. Yona turns back to me. 'What?!' she yells. 'How do you eat so fast!?'

'Well, it would do injustice to the divinely talented cook and her equally heavenly food not to devour it the moment I receive it,' I say, and wink.

She looks at me with half-closed eyes. 'You must be recovering, because your ability to spout nonsense seems to have returned.' She sighs, and hands me her skewer.

I chuckle. It feels good to get back to our normal — me trying, and getting innocently put down in a way that just makes me try even harder.

We eat in silence, enjoying the food, and the glow of firelight in the dark. A pile of wooden skewers are all that's left, and we throw them on the fire. The cold is seeping into the air. Yona holds her hands to the flames.

'We should try and sleep,' I say.

She nods. 'Mmm.' She reaches for her cloak, but her fingers grip air. I feel a pang. Cloaks are really just blankets you wear as clothing; she must be cold.

'I'm sorry.' She looks up, confused. 'I'll buy you another one, when we get somewhere.'

She shakes her head. 'Don't worry. I'll just sleep close to the fire.'

She's already sitting next to the fire, and she's already cold. The fire's tiny — pathetic, really. It'll probably burn itself out before dawn.

I hesitate, then say it. 'You can sleep beside me, if you want.'

I almost said 'with' and had to bite my tongue.

She glances at me, eyes questioning, and nods. 'Okay.'

She didn't read into what I said. But then again, I wasn't asking. Innocent and oblivious, as usual.

I lie down, on my left side, trying to spare my leg where I can. Her hair brushes my neck as she curls up beside me. A hot rush burns in my chest and shoots through my body, but I fight it, and push it off. I'm not here to get what I want from her, I'm here to help her. And helping her doesn't involve romancing her under the stars. _Hak, you have to tell me how you deal with this_ — her shoulders press against my chest and my breath hitches — _because it's killing me_.

'So what's the plan?' Yona asks. 'Do you have a plan, yet?'

 _Kiss you until I can't breathe?_ She turns over, her nose almost touching mine, and I quickly wipe any expression from my face. Her eyes look like they have stars in them, tiny, glittering constellations. 'Are you all right?' she asks.

 _Not really._ But her face, her eyes, bring me back to earth. I don't know what I'm feeling, whether this is the dragon's blood or something else all together. But now isn't the time for it. I start to relax. 'Fine. Just tired.'

She smiles, and turns back over. I undo my coat, and shelter her beneath the fabric. 'The plan?' she asks.

'Taskmaster,' I mutter under my breath, and she lightly elbows me in the ribs. 'Ow. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll need to start moving.' I'm already fighting to keep my eyes open. 'Find a village that hasn't gone dragon-crazy. Get some — '

She interrupts. 'Hey. So… what was that?'

Referring to… everything.

I groan and run a hand over my face. 'Do we really have to go into it? It's late…'

'Yeah, d_ right we have to go into it!' she snaps. 'We stumble across this village and find out that they know you're the Green Dragon — and the next thing we know they're trying to load you into a cage and return you to your "master"! I don't know about anyone else but I'd like a little _clarification here_!'

'For love of the Crimson Dragon _King_ you and Gija can sound so alike, you little rich brats…'

' _Jeaha!_ '

'I didn't say I wasn't going to answer so just… stop.'

She shuts up, and waits for my answer.

'Look, I'm going to make this quick. And we're not talking about it.' I line up the words and grit my teeth, before forcing the words out. 'Not all the dragons are worshiped like in Gija's village. The Green Dragons were kept in chains over the centuries, others waiting for their "master," the Crimson King, to collect them. It was slavery. I eventually made a break for it and wound up with Gi-Gan's crew. I thought I'd ditched my past, but it seems that the Green Dragon village put a bounty on my head and with our luck, we fell into one of the villages out for the bounty.'

She says nothing. Her violet eyes are too wide under the moonlight. Then she drops her head against my chest, allowing herself only one pained whisper. 'Oh, Jeaha…'

'All right, that's enough. Don't pity me — sympathy gives me a bad rash.'

'You're terrible, and I'm not.' She looks up and cups my face in her hands. 'It's just… how could they keep someone as beautiful as you in chains?'

...Wow. I haven't smiled in a while, come to think of it.

I chuckle, and say, 'Because people can sure as h_ can take blood oaths the wrong way. But yeah. You're literally my master. Crimson hair and the works. I don't think the village even had a clue when you were marching around and screaming at them.'

'But why didn't we just… tell them?' she asks in a daze. 'Maybe they would have let you go with me — '

'Yeah, let's tell the fanatics that you're the Crimson Dragon King, here to kick their butts and deprive them of their much longed-for bounty money. There's no way in h_ that wouldn't have made the situation worse.' I smirk. 'Ah, what can you do? It's the fate of handsome rogues like me to live with a price on our heads.'

All Yona says is, 'I'll claim you one day, Jeaha. I'll march into that Green Dragon village and tell them I already collected your sorry self way back when, in a trafficking ring in Awa.'

D_it, kiddo. You don't need to do that.

You've already claimed my heart a thousand times over.

I don't reply, merely breathing in the scent of her soft hair, of wood and flowers rather than perfume and ivory. 'Where were we?'

'The plan?'

'Right. We'll get on the road. Find a village. Get some stuff to patch ourselves up with. And I have no idea what we'll do after that but it's probably going to involve sore feet.'

'Will you be able to walk?' she asks. It's getting colder. My breath makes clouds in the air. I place an arm around her and draw her closer.

'I don't know.' I get an idea. 'Maybe you can whip up one of your famous crutches for me.'

She laughs. 'I'll try.' Her hand covers mine.

'Are you cold?'

'No. You're really warm,' she says. She rests her head on her arrow quiver, and her lips touch brush my hand. A sweet chill settles in my chest — I know it was an accident, a mistake in the dark, but when every touch and word from her is so innocent and often accidental, I treasure whatever I can get.

'Good night,' she says. Her voice sounds sleepy.

'Good night…' I say. I wait a few moments. Her breathing evens out. I gently drop a kiss into her hair. '…Yona.'

 _To be continued..._


	15. Chapter 15

➶Yona➴

I wake up, thoughts flashing through my mind. The wind is frigid, but I'm warm? Something solid presses against me. My gaze focuses. In the dark beneath the blanket — not a blanket, a coat — my eyes make out details, a collarbone, bruises drawn in shades of blue and purple.

A breath ruffles my hair. My eyes widen. We're… pretty… close.

Jeaha shifts, and I feel his arms around me. 'Uh… Jeaha…' I say, starting to blush.

I twist, and squirm, but pause after a moment. He's still asleep. I don't really want to wake him.

 _This is awkward._ But since when was travelling with a group of guys ever appropriate?

I sigh, and close my eyes again. There's still a cold chill in the air, but thanks to Jeaha, I barely feel it. Memories comes back of Hak, and… S-Su-Won, and I falling asleep under a _kotatsu_ on a winter's night. This feels a lot like that.

I hear Jeaha's breathing change, and one of his hands moves up my back, to my shoulder. 'What… Yona?' I look up, catching his gaze. He looks confused. 'I thought it was someone else.'

I splutter. 'And what's _that_ supposed to mean?!'

He sighs, and closes his eyes again.

'Hey hey hey — wake up,' I say hurriedly. I don't want to be stuck here for half the day.

'What's the hurry?'

'I couldn't get loose without waking you, but seriously —'

'Get loose?' he asks. He blinks. I think he's only just realised that he has his arms around me. He quickly recovers, and smiles. 'You mean you were enjoying my company too much.'

I merely sigh in exasperation, because I don't really understand what he's trying to say. That's how most of our conversations go. Sometimes he _really_ ticks me off and I don't even know why. He's so confusing.

I change topic. 'How are you feeling?' I ask. He should be doing better by now.

He glances down. 'Fine.'

'What do you mean… fine?'

His gaze hardens. 'Well, how were you expecting me be after all of _this_?' he says, gesturing, and even though I don't want to look, I see the bruises and gashes on his chest in the rising sun's light.

'I'm sorry,' I stammer. 'I-I thought —'

He exhales. 'That my leg would miraculously heal just because I bandaged it?'

'I didn't — '

'Injuries don't disappear when you treat them — they hurt for days, and even when they heal, you can get scarring and stiffness for months, or even years afterwards.' I bite my lip. He brushes my cheek with a finger. 'You really don't have a clue, but at least you're honest.'

I sigh. He lets me go. I sit up, and shiver, as the cool air hits my warm skin.

He sits up too, but slower. I see him wince. One moment he's normal, then lashing out in pain, then trying hard to make up for it. I'd write it all off as normal and caused by the pain he's in, except occasionally I see a flash of something deeper, and I keep losing my balance as I whirl around, trying to see if it's really there or if I'm imagining it. I stand up, and start to pace. It doesn't fit with the Jeaha I know, and in some strange way… it slightly worries me, like the ground I'm familiar with is shifting under my feet.

My ears prick up as Jeaha says something under his breath. 'We may as well be married — we've got the arguing part sorted.'

I blush bright red. Something I've managed to forget and ignore surfaces — him kissing me in that dark hallway. I spin around and draw breath to yell, but freeze. He looks at me questioningly.

The same things that stopped me from tackling the problem back then come back — I don't want to fight with him with how injured he is, and — I admit it — I'm scared to talk to him about it. Because I don't really know what the deal with _it_ was. I decide to just yell at him for this particular comment. 'What was that?!'

'What was what?' he says smoothly, and I know I'm not going to win this one. Not that I've ever won anything against him.

I point at him and spit, 'Put your coat on, you droopy-eyed idiot — you're a mess!'

He presses a hand to his chest, as though I've mortally wounded him. 'Wow, Yona — Hak would be proud.'

I storm off. 'I'll get your stupid crutches!' I yell over my shoulder.

I work off my frustration as I pull down branches, splinters flying everywhere. I drag back two large ones back to our burnt-out campfire. The branches are taken out of my hands, and I turn, to see Jeaha already setting to work on them. Twigs and leaves fall down as he expertly works with his knives. His coat is loosely done up.

'Figure I better put myself to some use,' he says, a half smile on his face as he works. 'Get any splinters?'

'A few,' I say, and ease them out. 'I didn't know you could carve,' I say.

'Eh?' He looks up, his blade falling still. He laughs. 'This isn't carving, I'm just clearing off the mess.' He cuts and trims the last few twigs. 'If I wanted, I could polish them up, but we've got more important things to do.'

He passes the finished crutches to me and holds out his hand. It's like whatever I saw, or thought I saw, never existed. Maybe it never existed at all, and I was just confused. _I don't care if you're confusing, Jeaha_ , I say, as I help him to his feet. _Just be confusing in the way that I know._

I pass him the crutches and he gingerly lets his bandaged foot rest on the ground. 'Are you going to be able to manage?'

He takes a step, letting the crutches take his weight and not his injured foot. Pain still flashes across his face. 'I'll be fine. You won't have to prop me up this time.' He looks at me. 'Let's go, before I have time to think about it.' I rest a hand on his arm, but he gently shrugs it off. 'Lead the way, kiddo.'

I sling my bow and quiver over my shoulder, and we set off. I follow a faint deer trail out of the clearing, and I can hear Jeaha following behind me, occasionally grunting in pain. I don't stop. I know he'd hate me fussing about him.

'So… where are we actually going?' I ask.

Jeaha stops, and pants for breath. 'I… I don't know… where we are. We'll just follow the beaten track… until we get back to a road. We'll take it from there.'

I part a tangle of branches with my hand. 'None of the tracks are very beaten.'

'Go left,' he says, and we swerve onto a different path. I don't know how he can tell but gradually, the deer trails look a little more worn, and a few look like they might be occasionally used by people. But every now and then we stumble into a completely overgrown section, and have to carve out a new route.

We pick our way through a small bamboo grove, and I stop to let Jeaha catch his breath. I turn back, and I feel like I shouldn't look. His coat's soaked through with sweat. He's holding his foot above the ground, and letting the crutches take his weight. I follow his gaze, up to the sky above us. He's probably wishing he could be up there.

'Jeaha?' He glances over at me. 'Are you all right?'

'I'm still alive.' He looks back up at the sky, and touches his dragon's leg to the ground. 'Still feels like I've got a dozen crossbow bolts through my leg, but… I think it may be starting to heal. Blame the dragon's blood, I guess.'

'You shouldn't blame it — if anything, you should be thankful for it,' I observe.

'I'll say thanks when the Crimson Dragon King himself deigns to grace us with his presence,' he says sarcastically. 'I'm more a face-to-face communication kind of guy.'

I roll my eyes, and begin picking my way through the bamboo again, with him following behind. 'So we… walk?'

'We walk,' he confirms.

And so we walk.

 _To be continued..._

* * *

 **A/N:** Final chapter goes up on the 31st!


	16. Chapter 16

✧Jeaha✧

And for lack of better options, we walk.

We walk through the bamboo groves, and finally stumble across a stone path set on a ridge, that we pull ourselves onto with much panting and swearing.

We continue along the path, stopping every five minutes at first and making very slow progress. Then we go a little faster, gaining blisters on our feet and an increasing lack of tolerance for each other, until we hit on a village. We try to avoid attention, and we get food and medicine, and try to wash off the filth in a hot springs. Then we go on our way again, after I learn to never play up in hot springs ever again unless I want Yona to drag me out by my hair.

We follow the trails, checking a purchased map, and talking to travellers on our way. Yona asks them questions such as, 'Have you seen a group of really loud, crazy travellers with coloured hair and they're sort of… dangerous looking? Even though some of them are too adorable for words?' while I sit off to the side to give my leg a break, with my fingers pressed to my temples like a mystic as I try to reestablish the connection that I share with the other Dragon Warriors.

We take camp, the nights passing one-by-one around badly-built campfires, talking and arguing and falling asleep beside each other more often than not, like mismatched siblings trying to fight off the cold.

And we continue to comb the mountains, searching for the others and trying not to drive each other mad in the meantime.

'D_it, Yona, d_it.'

She glances back at me, padding along the rocky trail with her bow slung over her shoulder. 'What?'

'Nothing, just annoyed at the world in general.'

'Ain't that the truth.'

Watching her from behind, I'm fully aware that we've both seen better hair and clothing days. For some reason, I usually end up following her. Likely because she has the tact to take the lead and let me follow at my own pace, so I can fall behind and hiss and swear in private when my leg starts hurting from the strain.

We're both pretty tired, and more often than not prone to snapping at each other and then apologising for it, but my main irritation is that I haven't been able to instantly locate the others. There's a connection, to be sure, but it's so vague that it's like stumbling around with a blindfold on. If the others can get a reading on me, I must be driving them absolutely mad.

The connection doesn't seem to be about physical proximity, but rather the strength of the signal. And that's the problem — I've been so worn down and generally bruised and battered that the signal I've been able to put out has been weak and flickering at best. All we can do is continue to comb the mountains for the others. I really hope that we don't pass each other by because if we do —

Yona stops.

I look over her shoulder. The road ahead shimmers with a heat haze, blurring the horizon. Blurring the —

She screams and sprints down the road like a flaming arrow, her bow hitting the ground and her dress snatched at by the wind and she nearly trips but she jumps in a flying leap and Hak catches her, swinging her around in dizzy circles while they both yell at each other, heedless of the others sprinting down the road to join them.

'What the h_ happened, Princess?!'

'Hak, put me down — and what are you — '

I pick up Yona's stuff and stroll down the road with a half smile.

 _Jeez. They should just kiss already._

And then she's set upon by the others and it turns into one massive tangle of yelling and laughing and general outrage and all that friendly stuff.

I draw to a halt, and try to smile. I should be happy; we've found the others and Yona is back with the rest of us, and safe. Yet it kind of feels like everything we shared over the past however long — no matter what a horrific, chaotic mess it was — disappeared with a snap of the fingers. Like it didn't even happen.

Then Yona holds out her hand to me, while trying to fend off Zeno's boisterous affections in a fit of giggles. 'Jeaha! What are you doing over there? Come on!'

And she pulls me right into the centre of it.

'D_, here I was hoping you'd managed to fall off a cliff, Droopy-Eyes,' Hak says, slinging his _naganata_ back over his shoulder.

'Well, sorry to disappoint, but — '

Gija interrupts me with eyes all aglow and says, 'You've returned to us, brother!'

'Ugh, enough — I'm back.'

'Zeno missed youuuu~!'

I barely manage to pull the over-enthusiastic little tyke off me before Yun has hold of my leg, hissing a fragmented series of alarmed comments as he examines the stained bandages. 'Oh my — for the love of — what the h_ did you do to yourself?! How has your leg not rotted off _did you not even disinfect it?!_ '

'Dragon healing powers,' I say impatiently, before a hand on my shoulder catches my attention. Sinha gives me smile and says, 'Welcome back.'

I blink. Then rub the back of my neck with a hand, and sigh. 'Good grief. Can you all settle down, brats?'

'We're not brats!' Yona and Gija protest. Yona takes my arm with a laugh and murmurs, 'Well, we're back, huh? We survived.'

'Thank the Crimson Dragon King that's over,' I say with a chuckle.

'I thought you said you weren't going to be thankful,' she teases.

'Well, I — '

And then I realise that the others are watching us. Closely.

'Hey. Droopy-Eyes.' Hak's _naganata_ thuds against his shoulder in a steady rhythm. 'You two behaved yourselves on your little _trip_ , I take it?'

'Huh?' Yona says. 'Yeah, why?'

'Yeah, why?' I mimic.

The others suddenly don't look very impressed. Hak takes his naganata from his shoulder, and the blade rests against the ground. 'Oh, is that how you're playing it?'

'If you've done _anything_ to compromise Princess Yona's purity...' Gija says, with a finger in my face, 'Then you will regret it until the day you meet the _Crimson Dragon King in the heavens_. Understand?'

Yona and I look at each other. 'What?' she says. 'What?! No way, you're being ridiculous! It was just like a really, really, _really_ long camping trip.'

'Don't start me on what goes on in some camping trips, Princess — '

'You wound me, all of you!' I protest. I pause. 'Oh, does sleeping in each other's arms to fend off winter's chill count? Because in that case — '

' _Droopy-Eyes!_ ' Hak roars; my _kunai_ meet the staff of his _naganata_ with a clang, and I hold him off with a smirk.

'Ah, you know how to welcome a guy back don't you, Hak!'

'Hak! Jeaha!' Yona protests, but she's too busy laughing to try and separate us. 'Stop it! And besides, we were freezing! We were just trying to stay warm!'

'Do not _start_ with me, Princess!'

'Yeah, let's not fan the _fire_ — oh dear me, that was a joke in ill taste — '

Yun places his hands on his hips and yells, ' _Get a hold of yourselves_ , you wild beasts! We're hundreds of _li_ off course and you can fight it out _once we're back on the road — so move it!_ '

'Yes, Yun!' we all yelp, and sprint down the road, still bickering and laughing on the way.

And I certainly don't miss the chance to grin point exaggeratedly at Yona's arm placed through mine, just in case there was the vaguest chance that Hak somehow managed to miss it.

 _The End_

* * *

 **A/N:** Ta-da! Done!

Thanks to Cheyeart, Uranometria223, kirtash96, lisamarieflicker3, phantomlord878, and SmileyXs Ice-cream Sprinkles for favouriting; thanks to Cheyeart, Crystalstorm, kirtash96, lisamarieflicker3, Mimiluvbug, phantomlord878, Undaunted One, Very-Dark-Grey Kitsune, and Yonatsubaki for favouriting; and thanks to DFreddy3773, Mimiluvbug, phantomlord878 and zee for reviewing!

Thanks for reading, reviews welcome (no such thing as too much feedback), virtual hugs and kisses to you all, and I'm out of here! -Electrikitty


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